Phishing is a type of fraudulent
e-mail scheme designed to scare you into providing your personal
and financial information online.
How does it work? An e-mail is sent out that is designed to trick
consumers into surrendering personal information. They may appear
to come from government agencies such as the IRS, an online shopping
venue such as E-Bay, or even a credit card company. The most popular
scams are:
-
Bank Account Scam
An e-mail from what appears to be your bank or credit union
inquiring about changes to your account.
-
IRS E-Audit Scam
An e-mail from what appears to be the IRS encouraging you to
complete a questionnaire within 48 hours to avoid penalties
and interest.
-
Big Purchase Scam
An e-mail from what appears to be a retailer asking you to confirm
"a recent large purchase."
-
Expired Credit Card Scam
An e-mail from what appears to be your Internet Service Provider
asking you to update credit card information.
-
Employment Site Scam
An e-mail that appears to be a wonderful job opportunity. You
are asked to complete an application that includes your social
security number.
Recipients are directed to websites where they
are asked to verify personal information such as their name, bank
account and credit card numbers, social security numbers, and other
information. A sense of urgency is created by telling the consumer
that, with little or no notice, their account will be shut down
unless they confirm their personal and/or billing information right
away. In addition, great care is taken to copy the original Website
to make the scheme appear as authentic as possible. Web addresses
(URLs) are masked to make them look real.
If you receive an e-mail of this nature, DO NOT respond to it,
click on the link, or provide any information. Delete it. In addition,
you may want to:
-
Contact the company directly using a phone
number or Website address you know is genuine and tell them
about the scheme;
-
Review your credit card and account statements
as soon as you receive them to determine whether there have
been any unauthorized charges;
-
Report suspicious activity to the FTC
and forward the suspicious e-mail to them at uce@ftc.gov.
To protect yourself, consider the following:
-
Companies rarely ask for information they
already have.
-
Don't use links embedded in e-mails to go
to a familiar site. Go directly to the company's Website the
way you normally do.
- Do not give out personal financial information as a result of
an e-mail solicitation.
-
Spoof websites normally have longer addresses
(URLs). Take a second look.
- The IRS does not use e-mail to notify consumers, nor do they
conduct e-audits.
If you are victimized, contact the three
major credit bureausto place a "fraud alert"
on your accounts, and notify your local police.
Report a phishing scam to Desco
If you believe you have received a fraudulent email from Desco, please
forward it on to our Security Center at security@descofcu.org.
Do not open any attachments or links included in the email.
If you have submitted your personal information to a fraudulent email or Web site, contact Desco at (800) 488-0746 as
well as any other financial institutions which you hold an account.
Fraud Definitions
Honeypots: Closely monitored network decoys designed to
distract adversaries from more valuable machines on a network. They
can provide early warning about new attack and exploitation trends
and they allow in-depth examination of attacks.
Keystroke logger: A software program that enables one
Internet user to monitor the actual keystrokes of another Internet
user.
Phishing: A process by which fraudsters are able to replicate
the "look and feel" of a legitimate financial services
company's e-mail or Web site for the purposes of tricking customers
into divulging personal identification, passwords and financial
data.
Shoulder surfing: Stealing a computer password or access
code by peeking over a person's shoulder while he types in the
characters.
Skimming: The copying by a dishonest cashier of the data
on a magnetic stripe on a customer's credit card by swiping it
through a small card reader. The information is then used to make
counterfeit cards.
Sniffing: The watching, displaying and logging of another
Internet user's computer traffic.
Spoofing: The forging of an e-mail header to make it
appear as if it came from someone or somewhere other than the
actual source.
Synthetic identity: A false identity made up of stolen
components.
Trojan horses: Programs in which malicious or harmful
code is concealed or hidden inside apparently harmless programming
or data, the purpose of which is to get control of the breached
computer and do damage.
